A Michigan couple allegedly abandoned their adopted Haitian child at a Jamaican boarding school that was shut down over abuse claims, leaving him alone in the foreign county for months.
Mark and Spring Goldman sent their adopted son Elijah, 17, to American-owned Atlantis Leadership Academy in the island nation after the teen was accused of frequently misbehaving, watching porn, and running away, according to the Detroit Free Press.
However, the boarding school was forced to shut its doors in March after officials discovered staff members were beating and abusing the children in their care.
Five school employees were charged with child cruelty and assault, according to NBC News.
As concerned parents rushed to pick their children up, Elijah’s parents, who adopted him when he was 10, never arrived, and the teen was stranded for the last eight months.
“I appreciate them for bringing me to the US, but they abandoned me,” Elijah told the DFP.
“I’m staying strong, but it hurts.”
He was living in Jamaican group homes until authorities put him on a plane on Sept. 3 and flew him to Florida, where his adoptive parents sent the unidentified man who took him to the Jamaican school against his will to pick him up and take him to Utah, the outlet reported.
Elijah, however, refused to go with the man, so Florida CPS officials sent him to his hometown since being adopted, Traverse City, Michigan — about four hours north of Detroit.
He has since been living in a hotel room, and his adoptive parents have taken away all his electronic devices and have prevented him from leaving or going outside.
Along with receiving an outpouring of support from the Traverse City community, Elijah’s case caught the attention of socialite Paris Hilton, who has been a vocal supporter of the teen and a critic of faith-based boarding schools.
The abandoned teen and his attorney, New York City-based children’s rights lawyer Dawn Post, faced off against Mark and Spring Goldman in a Traverse City courtroom on Wednesday to decide what would happen to him.
Fortunately for the teen, a kind-hearted foster parent came forward to take him in after being moved by his story, the outlet reported. Mark and Spring Goldman did not object.
“It’s just the right thing to do,” the woman, identified as “Teri,” told the outlet while she hugged the teen.
